Latest news with #Firhill
The Herald Scotland
20 hours ago
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Mark Wilson delighted with Thistle display in win over Queens
In truth, the second half was a bit of a non-event that saw little goalmouth action at either end as Wilson's men held on to make it three wins out of three in the League Cup group stage ahead of Saturday's trip to Dingwall. 'I'm really pleased because I knew how difficult a challenge it was going to be,' Wilson said. 'It may have looked a stroll in the park in the first half, but I certainly wasn't with how hard the boys worked. 'I'm particularly pleased because on Sunday we held an open training session here, and I utilised that as a full training session to work on certain things. Any supporters that were here would have seen on this pitch the plan we were putting in place, in terms of pressing high up the pitch and that level of energy. And when you see it coming off, it's particularly pleasing. 'So, we had a lot of energy in the team, bravery going forward, and we kind of overwhelmed them a bit in the first half. Obviously we came off a wee bit in the second half, but that's to be expected, so really pleased.' Thistle eventually got the lead they deserved on the half-hour mark when Fitzpatrick slammed home a free-kick from just outside the box, and the Firhill faithful didn't have long to wait until they celebrated another. Fitzpatrick was again at the heart of it. Aggressively pressing Queens' last man in defence, the winger won the ball around 50 yards from goal with no one to stop him but Stewart. The goalie rushed off his line and was rounded by Fitzpatrick outside the box as the 24-year-old charged into the box from an angle. A sole defender for the visitors charged back to attempt to protect the goal-line, but it was already too late. Lets'osa had made a lung-busting run up the park to provide his team-mate with an option, and Fitzpatrick selflessly squared the ball to the debutant for the easiest of tap-ins. 'Brilliant,' Wilson said of Fitzpatrick's display. 'I mean, a wonderful team player tonight and I highlighted that at half-time to the team. That's a team player who could have just been selfish and put that in, but includes his team-mate. That second goal kind of sums us up as a group tonight, and sums us up where I want to get to as a team consistently. 'We're defending a long throw in at the box, you see boys putting their bodies on the line and defending as a unit, but when the ball comes up to this side of the pitch, you see Logan Chalmers bursting his gut to put people under pressure, and Fitzy, and then wee T makes up probably about 70 yards to take it up for the tap-in. 'So all that stuff coming together is particularly pleasing. And again, we hope to get it even better. We know there will be maybe tougher challenges, but I'm pleased with how it's going along just now.' It is hard to think of anyone the home crowd were willing on to score more than Lets'osa. The 21-year-old made quite the impression after joining the club last week and providing a thoroughly charming interview with club media where his enthusiasm was blindingly obvious. "Everything has just clicked, to be honest... The environment in the changing room with the guys - everyone was amazing." 🗣️ Hear from our newest recruit Ts'oanelo Lets'osa for the first time since his arrival on Tuesday. — Partick Thistle FC (@PartickThistle) July 17, 2025 His performance on Tuesday night was every bit as positive, energetic and endearing as his unveiling. And although it is very early days, the box-to-box midfielder – who was subbed off around the hour mark – has the makings of a cult hero in Maryhill. 'Magic,' said Wilson. 'I mean, he's so infectious in terms of his character and personality, but as soon as he goes on the pitch he means business and he's a player with high quality. He has so much energy, covers the ground really quickly, and you can see his quality in there. 'And it was important just to manage his minutes. Him and Tony [Watt] obviously joined the group later, they missed pre-season. So in terms of their game time, that's why they came off at that time. 'There's no doubt Ts'oanelo was a fit lad and he probably could have played on, but we just need to be careful with him. It was great that he gets his goal in front of the fans, but his overall play was fantastic.' The Thistle fans, too, are very much rooting for Lets'osa. His forward-thinking attitude and positive play was lapped up by the Firhill crowd, and Wilson believes the best is still to come from the youngster. Wilson added: 'I think he's an easy one to take to. I knew what he was going to be like as a player anyway, but coming into a new environment and a new group, you hope that then translates to the fans. 'And debuts are hard to get right - sometimes you just try too hard. But you can see the flow in his game, and he's connected great with the people around the club. But more importantly, he's connected great with the actual players on the pitch, and that showed in his performance tonight.'
Daily Mail
14-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
On The Road: How Walking Football left our intrepid reporter flat on his back... and what makes it such a unique form of the beautiful game
Moments of clarity can come out of the air with the velocity of a clearance by a Junior centre-half. Ball and thought struck me at the Firhill Complex. The first rendered me prostrate, the second provoked a smile and a sense of gratitude. Lying on the plastic turf of the complex with a match raging around me, I took a moment to reflect on the absurdity of this old dodderer playing fitba' at 70. But I also basked in the joy of the game and all it offers. It surrounded me. The John Sutton Community Club runs 16 kids' football teams and a couple of veteran sides of over 50s and over 60s. But its walking football group on Friday morning is a microcosm of what the former footballer and his gang of volunteers want the club to be all about. The key word is inclusion. This may drift into the world of cliché but its wondrous reality is visible amid the drizzle of a Firhill Friday. There is Margaret Mary, a woman of venerable if undisclosed age, who is partially sighted and taken two buses from Cambuslang to attend. There is the chap who fell from a roof when working and struggled to walk again. He is now perfectly able to thread a pass or shrug off a challenge. There is the character who plays with the aid of a crutch and is not averse to using his stick to control the ball. There are others, young and old, who play without obvious physical disadvantages. These include Sutton's daughter, who is nine-years-old, a couple of guys who play for the over-50 and over 60s teams, and others who are younger and impressively mobile. The game is close and gently competitive and the after-match is glorious. There is fruit, coffee and an array of cakes. A couple of dozen players scoff the grub and scoff gently at me. There is community. It is wonderful to witness. Margaret Mary says: 'Aye, I've come from Cambuslang and the two buses were on time. I have been partially sighted since birth. I have always loved football and I go to see Motherwell. I can make out shapes and the colours of strips but I can't recognise faces. You can get commentary piped to you on earphones but I prefer to watch it in my own way.' She came to the club after the loss of her partner last year. 'I saw it advertised and I thought it would be good to get back out and about,' she says. 'It's made me feel a lot better and I enjoy a cup of tea and natter. I like the company and have made some good friends. If I don't turn up for one week, I always get a wee call to see how I am.' Alongside her sits Eddie Hughes, 59. He plays for the over-50s side and spends much of the morning poking the ball between my legs. 'I was 20-odd stone and had walking sticks so I started playing for health reasons and it has helped me greatly. My mobility has changed completely. I always played football when younger and I used to sell the macaroons and spearmint gum at Firhill.' This brings a flood of memories to older heads but Eddie is focused on the future: 'When I came along here there were only three of us but look how it has grown. Hopefully, more and more will come.' The future, too, holds a significant move for Eddie. 'Aye, I'm 60 later this year so I will qualify for the over-60s. We try to play a lot of friendlies and build up through that,' he says. A triple role is held by Jim Cairney, who is chairperson of the club, manager of the over-60s team, and a trustee of the community club. 'I was wandering down Maryhill Road a few years back and I thought I would pop into the complex,' he says. 'There was a poster looking for players so I signed up and got involved.' Jim had played amateur football in the past and coached under-age sides. 'I have always been part of football,' says Jim, 63, a retired civil servant. 'I believe in the good of the game. We are inclusive here. Anyone can come along.' John Sutton watches the walking, stumbling football with a smile on his face. It's football but perhaps not as he knows it. The lad from Norwich is now the family man of Scotland. He has played football in this country for more than 20 years, from Raith Rovers through Dundee, St Mirren, Hearts, Motherwell, St Johnstone, St Mirren and Morton. Brother of former Celtic and England striker Chris, John leads the charitable trust that is committed 'to the advancement of public participation in sport'. His involvement began when a job ended. He coached Morton reserves until they were no more. 'I had my personal training business up and running but people approached me about doing football camps,' he says. 'I wasn't too keen on it at first but we did it and it proved to be a success.' This led to the formation of the community club. 'It has grown enormously. We have 16 teams now but the priority was and is allowing everyone to have a place where they can play football. 'We have lads who are heading off to pro youth teams and this is great. We also have a partnership with Maryhill Juniors which offers lads a pathway in the game. But this club is open to all kids, including those who have never kicked a ball.' He adds: 'I grew up in an era of 'jumpers for goalposts' with a couple of dads giving their time to teams. It was a great system. Personally, I believe football has gone away from that a wee bit. 'We have to cover pitch costs and referees here, but we want to make it accessible.' He is wedded to the Firhill Complex. He wants kids from the area to be able to walk to training, acknowledging that many may be disadvantaged in terms of money. 'We want to stay here, stick with the community,' he says. Sutton, too, has hopes of branching the club out into boxing, even netball, but for the moment allows himself the brief luxury of reflecting on how far the club has come. 'Did I ever think I would come to Scotland to play football? No. Did I ever think this would be where we are? No. But we now have aspirations. 'Some of the people who have helped out with that have been incredible. I will give you the example of the 2011 team. They started off in the bottom division but how they have progressed. 'They are brilliant kids who put in a lot of commitment as do their coaches. Many parents don't drive so you can imagine the pick-ups, organisation when we have to play a game in, say, Greenock.' He is talking in a corner away from the Friday walking football crowd and the noise of their animated chatter reaches us. 'I think it is important to have a place where people gather. 'Jim, our chairman, has done such a great job on this and so has Angie, who makes the cakes. In modern football, people meet up for a game or training and disappear afterwards. We want them to stay on, to chat, to become part of the community at this club.' Jim, the aforementioned chairman, offers me a specialty coffee and dispenses cakes liberally. There are laughs and the retelling of highlights of the match. My performance is referenced as one chap points out that my talent for being nutmegged was outstanding. 'There was a line of passes going though your legs like cars shooting down the Clyde tunnel,' he says. Jim points out that there may be an over-70 team in the offing. He offers me a bun but not a signing-on form.
The Herald Scotland
11-07-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Mark Wilson was driving force behind joining Thistle, says Tony Watt
No one was more pleased than Watt, who had taken to running alone at the Emirates Arena during the close season in a bid to stay fit. Well, mostly alone. 'I like the back-and-forth in a good way,' Watt said of his antics on social media. 'It's hard to say when you don't really know, but until it's done, until it's signed, you can't really hang your hat on anything. 'But it's one that's very exciting for me and I'm just delighted to be starting today. 'It's been a bit difficult running myself the last seven, eight weeks, and I haven't been able to take a big break, so I've just been running myself a bit. I've missed the camaraderie and having somebody to push me. 'I got called out to a race the other day by a 63-year-old at the Emirates! I went for a coffee with a couple of boys from Motherwell ,and I got in the gym and a boy came up to me and was like, 'I've seen you running the other day, I told my wife I want to race you and see where I am'. 'So I was lined up on a 60-metre track against a 63-year-old. After that I told Snoddy [Robert Snodgrass] and he just said, 'I think it's time to get a club, it's getting a bit far'. I explained it to him and he was crying with laughter while I'm in the Emirates racing with a 63-year-old mixed martial artist.' Watt is the Jags' fourth summer signing after deals were concluded for Lewis Budinauckas, Patrick Reading and Cammy Logan, and the well-travelled centre-forward is pitching up at Firhill during a summer of change as Mark Wilson puts his stamp on the squad. Working alongside Wilson, Watt says, was a major attraction of signing on the dotted line. One conversation was enough to convince the striker. 'Yeah, he was the kind of driving force behind [my decision],' Watt explained. 'I know it's a great club, a big club that's local. We had some good conversations, and just the way he spoke about the game, the way he spoke about the club, the way he spoke about changing the club, in terms of working with what he's got and making the best of that [convinced me]. 'When I left the conversation, I gave him my word that I would sign. It was just a matter of getting it done.' As one of the livelier personalities within Scottish football, Watt's off-field antics can occasionally generate some interest. His public adoration of his pet chickens, for instance, was seen as a charming quirk, but sadly they will not be joining him in the north west of Glasgow. As Watt recounts, tragedy struck earlier this year. 'Aye, they're gone, they're dead,' he said. 'We moved house last year, and we put them on a farm, and the guy we gave them to forgot to put the door down on the coop, and they got scrammed by a badger. 'I felt there was a bit of a set-up,' Watt continued, tongue firmly in cheek. 'That somebody who maybe doesn't like me has gone up there in a badger suit and ate my chickens. Something was a wee bit fishy about that. 'I had four of them, and they were well looked after chickens. I was getting all sorts of eggs. You could just feel their comfort level at my house, and then obviously they went away and got eaten.' Replacement chickens are not on the agenda, but Watt hopes he will be regularly honouring their memory. 'I'm not allowed any more, my wife won't let me,' Watt added. 'She says they're stinking. Every time I score I'll be [dedicating my celebration to them].'
Daily Mail
06-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Partick Thistle FC asks fans to offer their spare rooms to future stars
It is hard to imagine the wealthy 'galacticos' of Europe's top sides ever slumming it in the spare room of one of their supporters. But community-minded Partick Thistle has urged its fans to throw open the doors of their homes to provide digs for its future stars. The club, which is owned by its supporters, has asked for help in providing any out-of-town signings with a roof over their head. The Scottish Championship side, which missed out on a lucrative promotion to the Scottish Premiership at the end of last season, has insisted the move is not due to financial pressures but to promote better player integration. A spokesman told the Daily Record: 'As a fan-owned club, we're always keen to involve Thistle supporters where we can and this is a great example of that. 'Embedding new players and potential new recruits in the community that surrounds our club helps them to settle more quickly and also provides valuable support in lots of ways when moving to a new city. 'It is common practice at clubs of all sizes across the UK. It's not a reflection of financial constraints, but rather part of our broader approach to community integration.' It comes after the Firhill club made several domestic signings this year including Sean Kelly, 32, who joined the Jags in February on a deal until the end of the season and keeper Lewis Budinauckas, 23, who returned to the club last month on a one-year contract. Irish-born defender Dan O'Reilly, 30, also signed for the Scottish Championship side in January last year on an 18-month contract with a one-year contract extension in October. Thistle have faced financial challenges in previous seasons, particularly since their relegation from the Scottish Premiership at the end of the 2017-2018 season. The latest accounts show the club's turnover was £3,203,875 in the year ending May 31, 2024, compared to £2,817,844 the previous year. The financial year ending May 2024, saw a pre-tax loss of £131,811, an improvement of £224,023 on the prior accounting period. Last month, the club appealed for volunteers to help get the club ready for the new season. A statement on their website said: 'In recent years supporters and members of the local community have joined forces with the club's Maintenance Team to have our home spruced up through fresh paint and other odd jobs. Paint brushes, paint as well as other equipment and materials will be supplied.' In May it was confirmed that Mark Wilson would become permanent head coach. The Partick Thistle spokesman added: 'This initiative has been introduced by our recently appointed Sporting Director Ian Baraclough who has worked at both club and international football in recent seasons. He views it as best practice especially with the safeguarding checks that the club would undertake.'
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jags For Good launch annual Partick Thistle season ticket fundraiser
Jags For Good have launched their annual fundraiser to distribute season tickets to local charities and Partick Thistle supporters struggling with the cost of living. The fans' group, comprised of volunteers who campaign for social justice, have raised around £30,000 over the past three years to provide an opportunity to attend games at Firhill for those who would be otherwise unable to do so. Advertisement Now in its fourth year, Jags For Good are hoping to raise £5,000 via the fundraiser – and Neil Cowan, a founding member of the group, is asking fans who can afford it to consider donating to the cause. At the time of publication, £2,640 has already been raised. The scheme's short-term benefits are obvious, but it has also had the long-term effect of adding a few converts to the red-and-yellow army, as Cowan explains. 'This is the fourth season,' he said. 'We first launched the fundraiser in 2022 and we've done it every year since. 'In total, we've raised the best part of £30,000 over the last three years. This year we have set a target of £5,000 initially. It's a bit lower because people have been finding it tough financially over the past few years. Advertisement 'We're running it again because we've seen the impact it's had in the last few years. We've had loads of nice messages from people saying, 'I wasn't a Thistle fan before, but I came along with my son or daughter and we're now hooked and love the club'. 'We fundraise for season tickets for local charities we work with so people can use them, and that was the idea initially. But then we opened it out to Jags fans who are struggling with the cost of living; people who in years gone by would come to Firhill, but who are maybe finding it a bit tough financially and can only come to one or two games a year. 'If you're struggling to come to games, just email us and you'll get a ticket no questions asked. You don't have to prove anything, we just take you at your word. So we had quite a few people last season and the year before getting tickets because of that. 'We're doing that again this year. We will give tickets to some local charities that support refugees, low-income families and people experiencing homelessness in north west Glasgow, as well as Jags fans who are struggling a bit financially. You can contact us and we'll help you out with a ticket, provided there are enough to go around.' Advertisement Jags For Good work alongside a variety of charities based in the north east of Glasgow, aiding people from all walks of life in an attempt to make Firhill as welcoming and inclusive as they possibly can. As has been the case in previous years, the club will match the final sum raised by supporters and donations are welcome until the end of July. Cowan said: 'We've distributed tickets to loads of different charities: the Partick Thistle Charitable Trust, who do amazing work; Maryhill Integration Network, who mostly work with asylum seekers and refugees in Maryhill; Includem, a charity who work with families; there's a charity that work with low-income families; there's one who work with people with drug and alcohol addictions – all sorts of charities. 'When the tickets go to them, they generally go to people who haven't been to see Thistle before. We know that quite a lot of people, for good or for ill, catch the Thistle bug and suffer alongside the rest of us every Saturday! Advertisement 'Season tickets are only valid for league matches so we will be running our fundraiser through July and we'll probably close it around a week-and-a-half before the first home league match [against Greenock Morton on 9 August] so that we have time to collate everything, buy the tickets and then give them out to people. 'The other great thing is, as they have every year, the club are going to match every penny we raise. If we raise five grand, it'll be ten grand's worth of season tickets that are distributed. So if someone donates a tenner, really it's 20 quid. 'It's pretty cool. It's the whole thing about coming along to Firhill – even if we don't win, it makes you feel part of a community and that's really what it's all about. Thistle is a community club and we should be an extension of that community, and we should be as inclusive as possible. This is a relatively small way of making that a reality. 'There is a small group of us, and it is a good wee group of folk who do matchday collections and things like that. We are volunteers doing this in our spare time but I think we all see the value in it. We enjoy it and see the good that it does, and it is also a great thing to be a part of – using Thistle for the greater good.' You can donate to Jags For Good's season ticket fundraiser here.
